World Matchplay Darts 2024: Humphries Eyeing Another Major Title

Eight players are still dreaming about winning the 2024 World Matchplay Darts following a thrilling opening to the tournament in Blackpool. 
 
The first two rounds have produced plenty of exciting matches at the Winter Gardens and the quarter-final ties should follow in the same vein. 
 
Read on as we look at the last-eight draw and latest outright odds, before assessing some of the key betting angles to consider. 

The draw for the 2024 World Matchplay Darts quarter-finals is as follows: 

• Luke Humphries vs Dimitri Van den Bergh 
• Ross Smith vs James Wade 
• Michael van Gerwen vs Andrew Gilding 
• Michael Smith vs Rob Cross 

The latest outright odds for the tournament (via Betgoodwin) are as follows: 

• Luke Humphries – 5/4 
• Michael van Gerwen – 11/4 
• Rob Cross – 6/1 
• Michael Smith – 7/1 
• Ross Smith – 9/1 
• James Wade – 18/1 
• Dimitri van den Bergh - 18/1 
• Andrew Gilding – 50/1 

Michael van Gerwen has his sights set on winning a fourth World Matchplay title after defeating Luke Littler and Joe Cullen to reach the quarter-finals. 
 
He is fancied to ease past Andrew Gilding to reach the last four, but could have his work cut out against Michael Smith or Rob Cross in the next round. 
 
Smith defeated Chris Dobey 11-9 to progress through his second-round tie and will fancy his chances of going even further in the tournament. 
 
However, Cross produced the performance of the round to defeat Ryan Searle 11-6 and could be worth an interest at odds of 11/4 on UK betting apps to reach the final. 
 
Humphries is now the 5/4 favourite to win the title after defeating Ricardo Pietreczko and Stephen Bunting on his way to the quarter-finals. 
 
Dimitri van den Bergh has impressed in victories over Martin Schindler and Jonny Clayton, but will probably find the reigning world champion too hot to handle. 
 
Humphries’ most likely semi-final opponent is Ross Smith, who is strongly fancied to defeat James Wade in their last-eight tie. 
 
Odds of 23/20 on several new betting sites for Smith to win the match, record the highest checkout and most 180s look extremely tempting.